AMC announced today that it was once again refusing to kill off its golden, blood-spattered goose, confirming that The Walking Dead will be back for a ninth season next year. But while the show’s fictional leader, Rick Grimes, is, apparently, functionally immortal at this point, its real-world management is due for a change: Per Deadline, the series’ current showrunner, Scott Gimple, is being promoted to Chief Creative Officer for the entire Walking Dead mini-franchise, and long-time writer Angela Kang will be taking over the show’s day-to-day showrunning duties.
Kang has been with the series since 2011, and is credited with writing on 20 episodes throughout that tenure. (Before that, she wrote for FX’s cult classic crime series Terriers. Yay, Terriers!) She’ll be the show’s fourth showrunner; Gimple took over in the fourth season from Glen Mazzara, who, in turn, was tapped to lead the series after Frank Darabont’s messy divorce from it after its freshman run.
The Walking Dead is currently on mid-season hiatus, but, despite reports of flagging ratings, will presumably continue shambling on for as long as AMC can continue to get it to move.